Reel mowers having a self propelled mower frame and mounting a plurality of reel cutting units are well known for precision mowing of grass. In such mowers, the reel cutting units typically are self-supporting and roll over the ground during cutting using one or more ground engaging rollers carried on the reel cutting unit itself. A suspension mounts each such reel cutting unit to the mower frame so that the reel cutting units are propelled by motion of the mower frame. The suspension is designed to allow the reel cutting unit various degrees of freedom of motion relative to the suspension by means of which the reel cutting units can individually adapt themselves to the contours of the ground to provide a higher quality of cut.
In recent times, there has been an increasing focus on further improving the quality of cut. The goal is to cut the grass at low heights of cut with few or no discernible flaws of any type. Thus, to the extent prior art suspensions permitted reel cutting units to cut grass with any unevenness in the cut that could be seen by the visible eye, or the extent prior art grass collectors attached to such reel cutting units permitted grass clippings to fall out or be left on the cut grass path even in minute quantities, the customers of such equipment are becoming increasingly less tolerant of such imperfections. It would be an advance in the art to provide suspensions that allow the reel cutting units to provide a more uniform and even cut and to provide grass collection that minimizes or eliminates any stray clippings from being left on the cut grass path. This invention is directed in part to such improvements.
Another important aspect of such mowers is how easily they can be serviced. In this regard, certain of the reel cutting units, such as the center rear cutting unit in a triplex configuration, are generally located underneath the mower frame. Access to such a cutting unit is thus difficult. Moreover, the cutting units themselves can be difficult to remove from the rest of the mower, requiring that they be bolted or unbolted to the mower suspension. The same is true for the drive motors that might be attached to the reel cutting units to power the rotatable reels thereof. Thus, it would be a further advance in the art, and one to which this invention is also directed, to provide cutting units that can be quickly and easily detached from their suspensions, that have drive motors that can be quickly and easily detached from the cutting units, and to have a way to more easily access any obstructed cutting units, such as the center rear cutting unit mentioned above.